The expectations placed on medical instruments for microinvasive interventions are constantly increasing. A variety of medical instruments comprising a tool with a gripping or cutting function at the distal end, wherein the tool is rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the shaft, are already available and in widespread use. The gripping function or cutting function and the rotation of the tool can be controlled for example by means of a single transmission rod that transmits longitudinal forces and torques. In addition, a possibility of angling the shaft at a hinge arranged to the proximal side of the tool has been provided more recently. This presupposes a flexibility of the transmission rod in the region of the hinge.
An angle drive device with a multiplicity of movement transmission segments engaging with one another is described in DE 39 23 609 A1. Each movement transmission segment comprises a head portion and a socket portion with a polygonal cross section in each case. The head portion of a movement transmission segment engages in a socket portion of an adjacent movement transmission segment. However the angle drive device does not enable any transmission of tensile forces.